Growing Around- Goodbye Rover (Draft 2)
episode starts off with Robert and Linda walking to their classroom. Adults are mingling by lockers or rushing to their classes. Linda: Robert, I’m so nervous about our test today! What if I don’t do well on it? Robert: Don’t worry Linda, you’ll do fine. I’ve helped you study for this test all week. Linda: But what if I get test anxiety and forget everything that I learned? I can’t afford to fail now, not after I started getting my grades up! and Linda both walk into Kathy’s classroom. The adults in the class are all greeting an elderly, grey haired beagle that is laying calmly on the floor. Linda: Oh, Ms. Kathy brought Rover in today! and Linda go over to Rover to greet him. Robert: pets Rover. Hey buddy, it’s great to see you! bell rings for class to start. Kathy: Okay class, I know that we were going to take the test on sandcastle building today, but we’ll postpone that to Monday and play with my dog outside instead! Linda: look of relief washes over her face and she whispers excitedly to herself. Yes! Kathy: to call Rover to her. Come here Rover, come boy! Rover: at Kathy with a blank, confused expression. Kathy: frowns a bit in confusion then goes over to Rover and picks him up. Linda: to look concerned. Ms. Kathy, is Rover feeling okay? Kathy: Rover is just a bit groggy, he wouldn’t eat his breakfast this morning. Well, some fresh air ought to perk him up! Okay class, single file line! of the adults in the class line up behind Kathy and follow her towards the exit. Robert: to Linda Um, hey Linda? Is it just me or are you a little worried about Rover? He seems to be getting more tired lately... Linda: to Robert Yeah, I see what you mean, he just hasn’t been himself lately... Robert: You don’t think his time is up, do you? Linda: I don’t know... looks at Rover nervously. M-Maybe it’s not that severe, he could just be a little sick lately, just a case of the worms of something. The vet could fix that up. You never know. Robert: Perhaps... class reaches the playground outside, Kathy sets Rover town and takes out a ball. Kathy: Okay Rover, go fetch! tosses the ball. Rover: blankly looks at the ball then lays down. Kathy: ... Or nap time, that works too. and Linda give each other a worried look before we cut to later that day. Linda and Robert are now walking into their house, Linda drops her backpack onto the floor. Linda: Finally the weekend is here! Now there’s more time for relaxation and fun! Robert: Not before we continue studying for the test on Monday, we need to make sure you’re confident for it. Linda: Okay, fine, we’ll do it later. peeks into the kitchen. Hi Sally- looks shocked. Um... What are you doing? Sally: is trying to clean out cake batter that’s stuck to the inside of the oven with a rag, flour and cake batter are all over the counters and floor of the kitchen. I tried to make a cake for dinner, but it just exploded in the oven! looks very cross, when she just gets too frustrated she throws the rag to the floor. Humph, I’ll clean this later. We’ll just have chocolate covered hotdogs for dinner tonight. gets a stepping stool so she can get the chocolate sauce from the top cabinets. Linda: looks very grossed out. Um... If you say so... I’ll be up in my room. walks up the stairs and into her room. She sits at a computer desk and turns on her laptop. Her cellphone starts to ring, she looks at the caller ID before answering. Hey Mary, what’s up? Mary: audience can hear Mary’s voice on the other line, Mary has an adult voice. Um... Linda, I don’t even know how to say this but... sighs. Have you seen Ms. Kathy’s PictureBook account? Linda: No, I’ll check it now. types on the keyboard and pulls up a website that looks similar to Facebook. Linda pulls up Kathy’s account and looks at her latest post. Okay, let’s see... overcomes Linda’s face as she reads the post. What?! Rover is dying?! Mary: His condition got even worse today so Kathy took him to the vet, he’ll have to be put down tomorrow... Linda: hand is shaking as she just stares at Kathy’s post, in shock. I... I’m sorry Mary... I need to be alone right now... shakily hangs up the phone. hold on to Linda’s shocked expression for a few seconds before she starts crying. We fade away to a school assembly, everyone in the room is quiet, even the children and everyone looks very sad. Principal: is reading off various announcements from some pieces of paper. So we will be having waffles and cookies for lunches today. clears his throat as he turns to another piece of paper. Now on to some... unfortunate news... Sadly Ms. Kathy’s dog Rover has died Saturday afternoon due to old age. of the teachers start crying quietly, the adults look down sadly. Ms. Kathy will not be coming back to school until she is ready. Rover... has been a good friend of everyone at this school for many years. Everyone will miss him dearly. Principal looks over everyone in the audience. You may go back to your classes. stays where they are for a few seconds before slowly getting up and walking towards the exit of the room. Linda: remains in her seat, tears lingering in her eyes. Robert: looks very exhausted, he turns to Linda. Let’s... go back to our classes. Linda: gives a small nod, still looking down at the floor, and gets up. Linda and Robert slowly follow behind everyone to the exit. fade away from the assembly room to Robert and Linda sitting on the couch in their living room, both of them looking very sad. Timmy and Sally are giving both of them sympathetic looks. Sally: Do you... want some ice cream? That sometimes helps me when I’m sad... Linda: No Sally, I’m not hungry right now... Can I just go up to my room for now? Timmy: Of course, Linda. Take as much time as you need. Robert: Remember, we’re all here for you. Linda: voice starts to waver a bit as she holds back tears. Right... Thanks. gets up and walks up the stairs. Timmy: lets out a long sigh. I can’t even imagine what Kathy is going through right now, she’s had Rover all her life. sits in a chair and starts reading a comic book like he’s reading a newspaper. Though I guess only time could help her right now. Robert: Yeah, though I wish there was a way to help everyone through this... starts to get an idea. Wait... Maybe there is something that can be done. cut to the next morning, Robert is at school. He knocks on the door of the principal’s office. Principal: office is littered with paper airplanes and candy. He is playing a virtual pet simulation video game called “Doggy!”. Come in! Principal pauses his game when Robert walks into the room. He looks at Robert. Yes, Robert? Robert: Sir, I wanted to ask you something, about Rover. I have an idea that might help everyone through their grief right now. Principal: What do you have in mind? Robert: I’m thinking that the school could possibly build a mural for Rover, as a sort of memorial. Principal: I’m sorry, old man. I really would like to do that, but we already used most of the school’s Ginomon cards on a bouncy house last week. and the Principal glance out the window to see some kids jumping around in a bouncy house. I’m afraid that unless we get more money, we cannot do that. Robert: looks very disappointed. Right... Thank you for your time. Robert leaves the office the Principal goes back to playing his game. Robert walks up to Linda. Linda: What did he say? Robert: The school has no money, they spent most of it on a bouncy house. Linda: crosses her arms. Well that whomps... What do we do now? Robert: is trying to think of an idea. Well, we can’t just give up now... Linda, I have a plan. cut to Linda and Robert sitting at a makeshift wooden stand, a sign on the stand says “Fundraiser for Rover’s Memorial.” Linda: looks at the donation jar, there are only a few tokens and Ginomon cards in the jar. Robbie, this isn’t working. Robert: We just need to be patient. kid walks up to the stand, the kid hesitates before dropping a single token into the jar. Robert starts losing patience. What does it take to earn some money around here?! kid runs away in panic, other people around Robert and Linda start staring at Robert. Linda: Robert, calm down! Robert: No, this is ridiculous! What kind of world is this where people won’t donate towards a dog’s memorial?! Random Adult: turns to Robert from a few feet away. Wait, you’re doing all this for some dog? Listen you’re sad an all about its death, but you don’t have to do all this. It’s just a pet, you can always replace it with another one. Robert: crosses his arms. No, you’re wrong. Rover wasn’t “just a pet.” No animal is “just a pet.” Rover was a loyal companion to Ms. Kathy and to many other people. He was someone you could count on to brighten up your day no matter how bad it was. Linda: To some, a pet may be just a possession that you can replace as soon as its gone. But for others, a pet is one of the most trustworthy friends you could ever have. Rover deserves a proper goodbye, for all the joy and smiles that he spread. silently looks at Robert and Linda, then a teacher walks up to the stand. Teacher. The adults are right, everyone at the school loved Rover, he was the best doggy ever. So, reaches into her purse and takes out a few Ginomon cards. it may not be much, but I’ll do this for Ms. Kathy and Rover. drops the Ginomon cards into the jar. pauses for a few seconds, then some children start walking up to the stand one by one and start dropping cards into the donation slot. cut to a montage. The montage starts with Robert and Linda sitting in the Principal’s office while the Principal is finishing counting stacks of cards and tokens. Once he finishes counting he gives a nod of approval and dials a number on his office phone. The montage then cuts to construction workers building a stone wall. At one point a construction worker accidentally breaks the wall when he backs his vehicle into it. When the wall is finally built, we cut to a montage of both adults and children at the school painting the mural and planting flowers at the base of the wall. The montage ends when Kathy drives up to the school in her car, she exits her car and looks very sad. Teacher: is the same teacher from earlier, she runs up to Kathy. Ms. Kathy, you’re back! We want to show you something! Kathy: I don’t really want to talk to anyone right now, I just need to get to my classroom... Teacher: No, you have to see this! Pretty please? Kathy: ... lets out a long sigh. Fine. follows the teacher to the backyard of the school, Kathy’s eyes widen and she gasps in surprise when she sees the mural. The mural has a painted picture of Rover playing with a ball and large, childish letters along the bottom of the wall spell out “In Memory of Rover.” There are also many small messages painted on the wall, in adult and child handwriting, that are condolences for Kathy and Rover. All of the students and staff are standing near the wall. Everyone: Surprise Kathy! Linda: Robert got the idea to make a memorial for Rover, to hopefully help everyone in their time of grief. Kathy: of happiness fill her eyes. Oh you guys... Robert: I know it may now seem that way now, but wounds eventually do heal. Rover may be gone physically, but he will never leave our hearts. Kathy: starts crying out of happiness. Oh thank you so much everyone! This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me! And I know that Rover would love this too! Principal: gives Kathy a big smile. We’re glad that you love it, Ms. Kathy. Kathy: sniffles and starts wiping the tears from her eyes. L-Let’s all go back to our classrooms now. Teacher: That’s a good idea. walks up to the school building as a large group, except for Kathy who looks at a paintbrush sticking out of a paint can. Kathy: pauses for a second before taking the paintbrush and painting a message on the board. Kathy smiles at Rover’s picture on the wall. Goodbye, Rover. I love you. walks to the school building. zoom in on Kathy’s message on the board, it says “Thank you for being such a good friend all these years, Rover. I am going to miss you, but I know that you are someplace happy now. Love, Kathy.” The episode now ends.